A Special Project on the island of Chios

Selected teachers at ten nursery and primary schools are implementing LVE on the island of Chios with the leadership of Sofia Tanaini and other teachers.

Introduction – Goals:

A child who is able to communicate, express feelings and thoughts, find ways of resolving the conflicts s/he experiences, is much more free to exploit his/ her abilities, and invest his /her energy in creative goals, being at the same time more competent to get over life difficulties. Keeping these thoughts in mind, the ten-school team started the planning of the programme. The first goal was for the teachers of the team to get to know each other and feel the group dynamics themselves with a view to setting common objectives. Then, the differences between the schools and age of students were brought up and there were various suggestions in regard with ways and activities to bring students and teachers closer. This procedure lasted for a whole year and proved to be very important, as communication and feedback invigorated teachers themselves both mentally and emotionally and contributed to the realization of our goals. In the each of the ten schools, one or two teachers are involved with LVE. We hope that in time all the teachers at each school will be involved.

Our Goals for the Children:

• to get to know themselves and the world around them in a better way and acquire certain communication skills.

• to bond together, recognise that each is different, important and unique, explore advantages and disadvantages to cooperation and promote it.

• to acquire self-knowledge, identify their abilities, desires, traits, appreciate themselves and get recognition from others.

• to understand that getting older and changing is a process common to living creatures, but different pace-wise for each of us.

• to explore similarities and differences among people of different teams, realise that differences enrich life and learn how important mutual tolerance and respect are.

• to understand the importance of effective communication, get training in skills that promote true relationships, control impulse, and get used to getting in each other's position.

• to learn to control impulsive reactions when under pressure and resolve differences in ways different from those of anger, aggression, and submission.

• to set realistic personal goals.

• to learn to evaluate their training and their progress in it.

• Our common goal was to give emphasis to socialization, verbal expression, a cooperative spirit and team work. Informing and sensitising their family and close environment were first priorities. This meant that we were concerned to get the parents and community involved. Cooperation with local authorities and organizations not only contributed to the success of the programme but also gave adults the chance to examine their own emotional life as well as that of their children.

Evaluation

A systematic evaluation of the programme proved to be a hard procedure. While the aims concerned mainly emotional processes, we do not have the suitable tools and sufficient education to reliably comment on the possible emotional changes on the part of the kids. However, because the whole procedure was for us also, an unpredictable journey in the land of emotion, the degree to which we were involved did not permit us to objectively evaluate what had occurred. In general, we could say that in the part of expressing and handling emotions, the change in the attitude of the children in terms of being able to talk about their feelings was obvious. And in the field of self-image, we saw “low profile” children demand more space and change the pattern of their behaviour with the rest of the children. It is true that such programmes are hard to evaluate, since their results emerge gradually in the future. What became clear, is the necessity of such programmes, that address not only the gnostic part but also their emotional world. The programme gave students the chance to ask themselves questions and have fun in an original way. They expressed their feelings, got to know each other, discussed, realised the importance of human relationships and became more competent in handling conflict and delaying gratification. The children started exploring and trusting each other, talked and expressed their preferences, emotions and the difficulties they faced. They learnt to respect the rules they set. They discovered hidden abilities and grew more confident.

The local community needs initiatives that will promote new values and interests and bring up subjects to discuss and explore. In this framework, the opening of the school to society and the benefit of the impact, brings students and parents closer. Apparently, parents were the immediate recipients of their changes and emotions. In the programme, there was no bad, mediocre or good student. There was the painter, the story-teller, the actor/actress... Self-involved kids overlooked their needs for the benefit of the team. Children with learning difficulties surprised everyone with their host of knowledge, vocabulary and drama skills. Children's contact with emotion and its expression by means of their thoughts and desires is an issue of life-long education. However, it's now time to take a first step and realise that emotion is a prevalent element in their life, the key to both a “normal” social life and the conquest of knowledge itself. Only when we as teachers realise that emotional intelligence should have its place in our everyday learning process will children have the chance to live in a school that respects their differences and their personal needs.

LVE Israel is seeking to approach more and more people as quickly as possible. They have created entire model LVE schools for the past five years so people can see the difference, as well as in kindergartens. They find teachers working with kindergarten children have an open heart.

Because the country is at war, it is challenging to talk about peace with the Ministry of Formal Education. However, LVE Israel feels strongly that everyone must work together in unity not only during times of need, but at all times – for everyday life, not just during a time of war. They have created a program of values, which includes an additional one of “inner peace.” Each school explores inner peace and then selects six values of their choice. In the last eighteen months, this project was piloted in the cities of Natania and Raanana – within community settings, schools and government. Twenty to thirty cities now want to participate; they have already signed contracts to begin in August. Due to the increased interest, there is a great need to train new trainers and bring more volunteers on board. There are plans to train coordinators from primary and high schools in Raanana to assist with this project.

In addition, LVE Israel has been invited to train youth leaders, instructors in the Regional Council of Modiim in August. They also continue to give support and training to two primary schools in Lod, one for the Arab population. As well, LVE Israel works with the Ministry of Health.

ALIVE Mauritius, in collaboration with the Mauritius Institute of Education recently organized a three day training for sixty educators and individuals from other sectors to practise and impart values in their daily life as well as their workplace. Participants from Mauritius, the Republic of Madagascar, Mayotte Island, Rodrigues and Reunion Island particularly appreciated the workshop, “Use of Silence: a New Language” which gave them time to digest the training material and see how all the elements were interlinked. Participant comments included:

“In this restless world, the process of diving deep within oneself helps us to progress, realign ourselves with our inner force and hence, focus better.”

“Silence helps us to find and connect with the child within.”

“The skill of giving ourselves a moment of silence before beginning any sort of work helps us to better perform and to have a deeper experience.”
“Silence is the long-lost-and-now-found language that allows values to emerge, be expressed and experienced.”
Facilitator Frances Burkhalter from Switzerland, remarked, “Silence helps me create ties with my inner values, with my inner wisdom and, hence, my fortune. Silence helps me discover the immense potential dormant in me and fills me up with self confidence and enthusiasm. With humility, I then share this power with everybody. Besides, silence allows the potential in others to emerge and grow spontaneously. Finally, silence aids the thinking process, makes thoughts crystal clear, thus making it easy to bring them into action.”

Although the picture created during the workshop of the “Tree of Silence” identifies growth attributes in French, most qualities are readily recognisable in English. La rencontre entre l'océan et le ciel means: The meeting between the ocean and sky.

Plans are being formulated to facilitate inter-island communication through the creation of an ALIVE INDIAN OCEAN website, an exchange forum, inter-island meetings, a secretariat for the Indian Ocean listing available facilitators, as well as an annual meeting of the “Values Family.”

Surinam held its first LVE Educator Training in January. Louise Bemmel, the LVE Coordinator reported: “Forty-one contented and brightly smiling faces were in evidence at the end of our educator training. The group was a mixed one: there were educators from private and public schools, representing levels ranging from kindergarten to university, a therapist, a psychologist, media and parents. The AlphaMax Academy who took the initiative was present with their full staff, including the concierge. Belen Romero, the LVE Coordinator from Venezuela who led the training, did a very good job and many participants plan to use the material in their respective workplaces.

The opening was made an official event by United Nations representative, Mr. O. Jones addressing the participants. He beautifully and touchingly shared his own experiences from around the world, having witnessed the effect of a value-based school system: how violence can change to a peaceful atmosphere, where children felt safe.

During the second part of the day, activities were videotaped for the evening news. One participant was also in charge of this medium and enthusiastically shared her feelings, ‘Everyone should know about this!' The Living Values core team which prepared the program was really satisfied with the result, enthusiasm and promises for application of what the participants had learned.

ACES, the Aventura City of Excellence School, Florida, has been a model LVE school for five years. It was recently named a finalist in the National School of Character competition. One of the advantages of having an LVE model school is that people can visit it to see what LVE looks and feels like! A visit from personnel of an organization that serves at-risk children, Family Central, Inc., resulted in a collaboration with LVEP, Inc., which will allow 20,000 additional children in three counties to receive Living Values Education.

Family Central, Inc. oversees more than $60 million dollars annually in child care and services to needy families in South Florida. Between January 15th and February 15th Family Central, Inc. accomplished an intake of more than 3,500 families needing child care, food stamps, or other social services. The level of need is increasing daily in the USA, and at the same time it is increasingly difficult for individuals and families to access needed services. Family Central serves as an important link between governments, funders, service providers, and families in need. Family Central, Inc.: “We are honored to provide information and training on Living Values Education to support child care providers and pre-K educators as they introduce character education into their curriculum.”

In Florida, character education is required to be included in child care and voluntary pre-K programs, although this regulation has rarely been enforced. Family Central is unique in taking the leadership to see that technical assistance in character education is provided to child care providers. Child care workers who participate in LVE training offered by Family Central's coaches will be eligible to receive continuing education units toward their required annual in-service hours. Moreover, these CEUs will be at no charge to the worker (other trainings require a fee to be paid.)  We are also contemplating the possibility of some kind of "certification" as a "character educator" that would add to the professionalization of the child care worker.

Trainers from the Florida LVE team of LVEP, Inc., the national LVE association for the USA, led by Dr. Kathleen Shea, are working with Family Central to bring values education to more than 20,000 children in South Florida. An introduction to LVEP was presented to more than 50 Child Care Program Directors on January 17. A two-day TTT was held for forty-seven "coaches" (trainers and technical assistance providers) from Family Central, Inc. on January 24-25th. These coaches were trained to provide a six-hour training program to more than 1,000 South Florida pre-school child care workers in whose care are more than 20,000 children.

A demonstration site has been identified where the intention is to fully implement LVEP. This is the Village Methodist Early Childhood Center.  This center serves about 100 children, from infants to 5-year olds and is directed by a young woman who has trained as a Montessori teacher, and who has deep roots in the global peace movement from her native country, Costa Rica. We hope that this center will become the "ACES" of early childhood. Others were similarly inspired:  one of the educators plans to move to Maryland sometime next year, and is planning to open a child care program centered around Living Values Education.

A follow up training is planned for April 2008 to assess progress and provide additional support to coaches using the program.

A very successful LVE training concluded in April with sixty Special Education Educators in Cumaná, Estado Sucre. They all work for the governmental Educational System, “Dirección de Educación Especial, Zona Educativa Estado Sucre.” They were very happy with the training and evaluations rated all sections very positively. Participants reflected on their own personal values and the importance of getting in touch with them. The sharing of experiences was very important for all, as stated in the evaluation, because it made them realize how deep a value or lack thereof can be imprinted in our lives. They loved the activities, especially the mind mapping of the values and the active listening activity, after which they all agreed that this is a real art and must become a constant in their lives. As most participants were parents, they also agreed that these tools will help them with the upbringing of their children. As usual with the magic of Living Values, it was a wonderful and rewarding experience for everyone. Both participants and the facilitator are looking forward to a follow-up session soon.

Please also send us:

• your success stories in using Living Values for the Impact section of our Web site;

• photographs for the News section of our Web site; and

• students only, your stories, experiences, feelings and inspirations about Living Values for the Children Participate section of our Web site.

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